U.S. Catholic Church prepares to accept disaffected Episcopalians

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(Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo, North Dakota consults his tablet during the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore, Maryland November 14, 2011. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

The U.S. Roman Catholic Church will establish a body in January to house disaffected members of the Episcopal Church, beginning with a few dozen ministers and at least two congregations seeking communion, U.S. bishops were told on Tuesday.

Some 35 of 67 Anglican ministers who have applied to join the Catholic Church have received the “nulla osta” from the Holy See, allowing them to move forward to become priests, said Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, D.C.

Wuerl, head of a committee to move the process forward, gave a progress report to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops who are meeting this week in Baltimore.

The other clergy seeking ordination have had their dossiers presented to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he said.

The Vatican will name an ordinary to lead the Church subdivision, called an ordinariate, beginning on January 1, to oversee the process and perform duties similar to a diocese, Wuerl told the bishops.

Permission to form the ordinariate in the United States was granted last month by Pope Benedict XVI, who in November 2009 issued a formal invitation to Anglicans to join the Catholic Church. Earlier, an ordinariate was formed in England and Wales, and others are under consideration in Canada and Australia.

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